RADIOGRAPHIC & LITHOGRAPHIC FILM PROCESSING

Old radiographic films (or radiographic plates) are probably among the most important personal data since they are health related.

X-rays are considered confidential patient information which is of great importance to the proper practice of medicine.

Many articles have been written and important studies have been conducted on the value of medical privacy.

They all show that creating an environment of trust with respect to the patient’s privacy, ensuring that their private information will not be disclosed without their consent, encourages the patient to seek care and to be as honest as possible during the visit to the health care establishment in question.

CAUTION!

The disclosure of a patient’s health information to third parties results in serious Penal and Disciplinary Sanctions.

Medical Privacy Legal Framework

The Legal Framework of Medical Privacy is mainly covered by:

Article 371 “Violation of Professional Confidentiality” of the Penal Code which states (Penal Code):

Clerics, lawyers and all kinds of legal counsel, notaries, doctors, midwifes, nurses, pharmacists and others in whom people usually trust private information because of their profession or their status and the assistants of such persons, are punishable by fine or imprisonment up to one year if they reveal private information which they have been trusted with or learned due to their profession or status. Penal code, article 371, paragraph 1 –

Note: unofficial translation

Law 3418/2005 “Code of Medical Ethics” primarily Article 13 “Medical Confidentiality” and Article 14 “Medical Record Keeping” (Law 3418/2005 “Code of Medical Ethics“) .
Law 2472/1997 “Protection of Personal Data” mainly by Article 2 Definitions (paragraph b) Classification of health data as ” Sensitive Data ”), Article 7“ et sensitive data work “and Chapter V” SANCTIONS “with Articles 21 ‘Administrative penalties’, 22” Criminal penalties “& 23” Liability“(Law2472/1997” Protection of personal data“).
Article 57 from Civil Code “Right to Personality” (Civil Code).

KEEPING AND CLEARING MEDICAL FILES

The provisions of PD 162/79, 768/80, 87/81, 480/85 and 11/81 regarding clearing the records of Public Services and Public Laws apply to the keeping and clearing of medical records. For Hospital Medical Records, PD 1258/81 (Article 2) states that the following must be kept on record: patient registries for 50 years, patient records for 20 years from the date of discharge, clinical account books for 5 years, surgery and childbirth books for 15 years.

Links to Presidential Decrees

Legal Framework for Collecting & Recycling

Radiographic films, apart from containing confidential information, are classified as solid non-hazardous waste in the European Waste Catalog and should not be disposed together with household garbage but be managed by recycling companies.

Upon collection from any health service or individual, they must be presented with:
The Collection & Shipment License which includes mention of the materials and permits their transport (Note that this license only permits shipment of materials to the processing plant and NOT storage or processing of x-rays.)
The processing license (AEPO – Approval of Environmental Terms) of the final recipient who must prove that he is destroying and recycling the x-ray films.

Η GreenFence

Our company is licensed for the Transporting and Processing of radiographic film and features state of the art recycling plants in Greece for all radiographic film types such as Old Classic X-rays, CT scanner X-rays, Dry / Laser Imager X-rays, Dental X-rays, Coronary Angiography Canvas prints etc.

Lithographic & Other Films

The same environmental management is required for Lithographic Films, Paper Films, Printing Plate Films as well as Industrial Radiographic Films whose data sensitivity and confidentiality is determined by their producer.

In cases of high level confidentiality, our company can provide you with all the solutions you need to confidentially destroy and recycle them.

Confidential Destruction

For films (radiographic and lithographic) it is neither possible nor useful to record the destruction process of the materials.

Our business, however, after receiving the materials in question and providing you with the “Destruction Certificate” is held responsible and liable for the confidential destruction of any data contained therein.

Our company accepts cut up films which are only recycled. For large quantities (200kg or more) destruction can be free of charge in the presence of you or an authorized person in our facility.

Interested in our Services?

The value of our Services depends on the type of Confidential Destruction, the type of bins, the volume, the frequency of change and the area from which it's collected. We provide an exclusive package to our customers with competitive pricing